


A man's best friend

by Evil_Keshi



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Percival is an Animagus, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-19
Updated: 2017-01-19
Packaged: 2018-09-18 11:48:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9383648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Keshi/pseuds/Evil_Keshi
Summary: No one noticed the dog at first, not even Mary Lou Barebone, who always made a point of noticing unusual events and people. She mostly focused on her search for witches though, so maybe that was the reason why the dog escaped her notice - not that he would complain.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Tiếng Việt available: [A man's best friend (Vietnamese version)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9552785) by [Kataly_Malfoy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kataly_Malfoy/pseuds/Kataly_Malfoy)



> Hello everyone! This idea of Percival being an Animagus suddenly came over me and I had to write it as soon as possible... I hope you will enjoy it :)

  


No one noticed the dog at first, not even Mary Lou Barebone, who always made a point of noticing unusual events and people. She mostly focused on her search for witches though, so maybe that was the reason why the dog escaped her notice - not that he would complain.

Stray dogs in New York weren't uncommon. Snooping around the markets to steal food, hunting cats or merely resting under the sun on bright days, these dogs were part of the every day life. The black and white husky didn't make an exception to the rule.

Seraphina Picquery had asked Percival to watch the Second Salemers, to make sure they weren't a serious threat, and since going as himself to their meetings wouldn't be the wisest decision, the Director of Magical Security had chosen a... slightly different spying method. Few people knew about his Animagus form, not that he deliberately kept it a secret (after all, he was on the list of MACUSA's legally registered Animagi and anyone who would actually bother would find him there) but there were advantages to that discretion: in this case, the fact that no No-Maj would have enough imagination to think that an innocent-looking dog was actually a powerful wizard.

  


  


The husky trotted through the streets of New York until he reached a small, narrow house that was swarming with children gathered to get their soup from Mary Lou Barebone and her three kids. All of them, so thin and dirty from days spent in the streets and so grateful for the warm meal the Second Salemers provided them with. The dog scented the air in curiosity and Percival would have frowned, had he stood there as a man: all these kids had known nothing but misery all their life, so it was no wonder why such a mediocre, insipid soup would make them look so happy. They just didn't know anything else.

Then came the sermon. Lying outside the little church, the husky whined a little as he heard about the bad, bad witches living amongst these people, how they darkened the souls of those who met them, how they would lead them to perdition. The dog didn't move from his spot when the sermon was over and the children walked out, leaflets in their hands, ignoring the sleepy dog by the doors.

Once they were all gone, the husky peeked inside. The three Barebone kids were busy cleaning up the table, the bowls and pots that had contained the soup, the two girls whispering softly between themselves while the third child, the boy, kept to himself and worked in silence.

Percival stared at him, probably longer than necessary, and tilted his head to the side in wonder. There was... There was something, within this boy... Something powerful, something undeniably magical, and the dog took a tentative step inside the house as if closing the distance between the boy and he would answer his questions.

The boy turned around at the soft noise of paws and his surprise at the sight of the husky got a bowl to slip from his hands and shatter to the ground with a crash.

"Credence!" the youngest girl gasped, her wide eyes set on her brother in horror.

"Modesty?" Mary Lou called out as she appeared in the room, "What was that noise?"

The little girl glanced at her brother helplessly, while the older daughter kept staring at her feet, like someone waiting for the storm to go away and hoping it wouldn't do too much damage. Percival quickly understood the reason why.

"It was my fault, ma," the boy - Credence - croaked out without daring to look at his mother, "I... The bowl slipped, I am so sorry."

"Your belt, Credence," was all Mary Lou answered.

The boy let out a whimper that turned Percival's blood into ice.

  


  


"So, Graves, what are your thoughts on the Second Salemers?" Picquery asked him the next time she came down to his office at MACUSA.

"I wouldn't see a threat in them, Ma'am," he answered with a shrug. "Mary Lou Barebone preaches quite well if I may say, but those are mere words. She holds no real weapon against us and I don't believe she would make the distinction between a No-Maj and a wizard if she saw one. The only threat she poses is towards her children."

Percival didn't manage to explain that last statement: already, Seraphina had concluded that her own community was safe and three non-magical kids didn't matter much to her. However, Percival couldn't shake off the feeling he'd had when he had watched the boy... Credence was powerful, although he probably didn't know it himself, and the Auror couldn't say how much. All he knew was that a deep, dark despair surrounded that power and that the boy had to be protected.

Two minutes later, a few Aurors wondered why a big husky was leaving the MACUSA headquarters in such a hurry.

  


  


Credence was kneeling in a dark alley nearby the Barebone's house when Percival found him, nursing new bleeding cuts on the inside of his hand.

"You?" the boy whispered, before he made a shooing motion with his uninjured hand. "Go away!"

The dog didn't budge, just stared at him with apologetic eyes, before he stepped forward, coming closer to the boy at a slow pace, trying not to scare him. Credence watched him with uncertainty written all over his face but a corner of his lips curled up ever so slightly when Percival dropped next to him and rested his head on the boy's knees.

"Who do you belong to, uh?" Credence asked softly, his fingers just millimetres away of touching the black and white fur. "Are you lost?"

The dog whined softly, lifting his head just a little to feel the soft pressure of Credence's fingers on the top of his head. The boy seemed to understand the dog's prayer, because soon, he carded his fingertips through the thick fur. Now, Percival was no cat but he could have sworn, in this instant, that he let out a soft purr.

The small smile on Credence's face almost reached his dark eyes.

  


  


"You again?" Credence whispered the next afternoon, when he noticed the husky following him as he handed out his leaflets.

The dog barked happily and a tiny smile appeared on the boy's pale face, like a sunray through a cloudy sky. He looked quite beautiful like that.

  


  


"You need a name," Credence decided a few days later, when the husky joined him again on a sunny morning. "I can't keep calling you _dog_."

Percival's only answer was to rub himself all over Credence's legs. The boy almost laughed and Percival, even in this form, felt warmth settling down in his heart.

(The next day, Credence found him a name. _Happy_.)

  


  


Credence was crying - Merlin, no, he was sobbing, hunched and curling over himself in the alley, holding his wrist against his chest. Bruised and bloody.

"Ha... Happy," the boy gasped when he noticed the dog at the corner of the street.

Percival all but ran to him, wondering whether he should drop the act, reveal his true appearance to the boy and heal him. He seemed in so much pain and yet, he managed a broken smile when the dog rested his forehead against his.

The scent of blood was thick in the air and Percival took a step back, observing the boy carefully. He had to be hurt more than that, the smell was too powerful to come from his injured wrist only... He circled Credence, pushing him with his soft nose here and there to check for more injuries, until the boy cried out when he lost his balance and fell on his behind, his back colliding with the wall. Under his too thin coat, his once-white shirt was soaked in blood.

Percival turned back into his human form immediately.

"Who are you?" Credence shrieked, cowering in sheer terror, trying to move away from the man who had suddenly appeared. "Who... What...?"

"Calm down, Credence," Percival said on a soothing tone, crouching to the boy's level. "I'm not here to hurt you. My name is Percival Graves, but I'm also Happy. I'm your friend, Credence."

Merlin, it hurt so much to see that boy, who had once hugged Happy without a second thought, now shaking at the idea of being near him. Percival felt like his heart was torn apart and yet, he had to focus on Credence's own pain, his distress, his exhaustion. He would explain later and hope that the boy would accept to hear him out.

"I can help you, Credence," he said gently, tilting his head to the side just like Happy did. "I can heal you, if you allow me to."

Wide eyes looked him up and down and Percival flashed him a soft smile, trying to make the boy understand that he was telling the truth. Slowly, he reached out to the injured wrist.

"It's okay, Credence. I won't hurt you. I promise."

His fingers caressed the bruised skin and a shiver ran down the young man's body at the light touch, and Percival covered the damaged wrist and palm with his own hand, healing the cuts to the best of his abilities. Credence gasped.

"Did I hurt you?" the Auror worried.

"N... No," Credence stammered, now looking at Percival with wide, disbelieving eyes. "You... You are a witch?"

"Rather a wizard, really," the man chuckled softly. "We aren't bad people, Credence."

  


  


Credence had a hard time to understand how a dog and a man could be the same person but eventually, after several demonstrations, he believed Percival. The dog fur reminded him of the man's hair, dark and silvery on the sides.

Mary Lou would probably have a stroke if she knew, but he decided that this wizard was a good man, and that he didn't want to run away from him.

  


  


Some days, when Happy joined the boy, Credence would pet him and then blush as he remembered that under the thick fur, there was a tall and handsome man. Some other days, he would shyly ask if Percival was willing to show his true form - because as much as he liked Happy, sometimes Credence wanted someone to talk to, someone who would answer him. And sometimes, the boy asked to see Happy, because he felt like his heart would stop if the wizard kept looking at him like... like he was the sun.

There were times when Credence would cry in the shadows of an alley, and Percival would find him and heal him. Sometimes, after taking care of the boy, he would turn back into Happy and wrap himself around the boy to keep him warm.

One day, Happy brought him a fresh loaf of bread and Credence was immediately worried that the dog had stolen it, only to apologise and blush profusely when Percival turned and told him that he had paid for it and _will you please eat, Credence?_

However, it was Percival who blushed as he kissed the boy the first time.

  


  


On a cold and dark evening, when Percival joined him in the alley, Credence could tell that something was off in the wizard's behaviour. His gestures didn't show the same gentleness, they were rougher, although not violent, and there was a spark in Percival's eyes that hadn't existed all the previous times.

Credence knew Percival. His eyes, whenever they landed on his silhouette, showed nothing but warmth, care and love, and worry sometimes. But always love. Tonight though, they looked too cold, and suddenly Credence didn't want those eyes to stare at him.

"I... I think I need to see Happy," he stammered.

"What are you talking about, sweet boy?" Percival asked with a gentle smile - but it was void of warmth.

At this instant, Credence understood that something terrible had happened. That man who stood in front of him wearing the face he cherished was not Percival Graves.

  


  


He missed Happy. He missed the joyous barks that would follow him through New York, the thick black and white fur that would keep him warm, the cold and wet nose touching his fingers. But above all, he missed Percival's gentle hands cradling his face, Percival's voice telling him that he would be okay, that he loved him. He missed the man who made him feel alive, protected and loved.

In his absence, all that remained was a darkness inside him, groaning and roaring in the pit of his stomach, fighting against the fragile bones and even more fragile will that kept it locked inside.

Credence couldn't control it.

  


  


Flashes of light. Three screams, coming from a redhead man who had been kind to him, a woman who had wanted to help, and the Percival who was not his Percival. Flashes of light, again, and then, pain. Shadows exploding.

Pain pain pain pain.

  


  


Credence was fighting sleep in a dark corner of some unknown city. He couldn't sleep, he didn't dare to, for fear that the shadows inside him would come back and swallow him. If not the shadows, then maybe the men in uniform from New York, those with the painful flashes of light, would come and find him.

A soft noise startled him and Credence jumped to his feet, glancing all around him in fear, ready to run. He heard the sound of paws on the pavement.

A black and white husky, thinner than he remembered, stopped a few feet away from him, tilted his head to the side, and Credence felt himself fall to his knees, unable to stand any longer.

"H... Happy?" he breathed out.

A bark answered his call. When the dog reached the boy, there was a swirl, and suddenly a man was holding him into his arms, cupping his face with both hands, kissing his lips, embracing him with his warmth, tears rolling down his cheeks as he whispered how much he was sorry. When Credence dared to look up, utterly terrified that this was only a dream, he locked eyes with the man holding him.

Relief, concern and warmth were shining together in Percival's eyes but also, brighter than anything else... Love.

Credence let out a soft sob as he returned the strong embrace that he had longed for. He had found him.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I would be delighted to know what you thought about this, so feel free to leave a comment :) Thanks again!


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